Rules and regulations for flying in controlled airspace may be defined by regulatory agencies such as the Federal Aviation Administration (“FAA”). Different rules and regulations may apply to different aircraft (e.g., piloted aircraft, unmanned aircraft, passenger carrying aircraft, air taxis, delivery aircraft, drones, and/or other aerial vehicles), and may therefore create different controlled airspace or different tiers or classes of controlled airspace. For instance, the controlled airspace for drone or unmanned aerial vehicle (“UAV”) flight may include altitude or height restrictions, no-fly zones (e.g., around airports, military bases, national landmarks, critical infrastructure, stadiums, specific events, governmental buildings, over emergency or rescue operations, etc.), time-of-flight (e.g., day or night) restrictions, maximum distance restrictions between aircraft and a remote pilot (e.g., line of sight restriction), and/or other restrictions.
The rules and regulations may be presented in static controlled airspace maps. Controlled airspace maps may present the different airspace restrictions for different aircraft via a static image or other static representation. Consequently, the controlled airspace maps may be difficult to read, may make finding the relevant information difficult, and/or may be difficult to use during flight to ensure that the flight is compliant. Moreover, users may manually manage their flight information (e.g., user flight plans, user flight approvals, etc.) entirely separate from the controlled airspace maps, and may manually correlate the flight information to the controlled airspace maps during planning and/or flight.
Further complicating the user's ability to fly in controlled airspace is the requirement to obtain approval prior to flight. Different approvals may be needed for different controlled airspace, aircraft, restrictions, and/or other flight variables. For instance, some flights may require authorization (e.g., Low Altitude Authorization and Notification Capability authorization), other flights may require waivers, Certificates of Authorization (“COAs”), and/or other approvals from the FAA, other domestic regulatory agencies, and/or international or foreign regulatory agencies depending on the aircraft being flown, the controlled airspace where the flight takes place, and/or other flight variables.
Existing air traffic control infrastructure was not designed to accommodate flights of different aircraft (e.g., UAVs, air taxis, delivery aircraft, etc.) at scale. Thus, as flight becomes more accessible and involves more types of aircraft, managing controlled airspace and approving flight becomes more challenging, time consuming, and costly.